Optical fiber communication networks have gained wide acceptance in place of the use of electrical cable systems, due to the significantly enhanced bandwidth capabilities of optical fiber and its immunity to electromagnetic and radiomagnetic interference. Very significant advantages are achievable by the use of optical fiber rather than electrical conduction media. A continuing challenge in using fiber is providing enclosures for optical connections to fibers while providing adequate environmental protection and allowing for easy installation and configuration changes.
To simplify later modifications to the fiber interconnections, it is customary to leave a length of slack in each fiber within the enclosure. In an enclosure containing many fiber splices or terminations, there may be a large number of fibers adding up to a large volume of slack. A substantial amount of storage space may be required to accommodate the slack.
Slack fiber is typically wound around a barrel or spool that is mounted in the enclosure. An enclosure may typically have two or three such fiber storage barrels. Typically, the enclosure is configured to accommodate more than two terminations or splices. When the number and/or length of the slack fibers grows larger, the volume of slack fiber may exceed the capacity of the fiber storage barrels in the enclosure. Further, it is desirable to separate the fibers in a given cable and store the slack for each fiber separately, to facilitate working on the individual fibers.
An improved device and method for storing slack fiber is desired.
One aspect of the invention is a device for storing fiber slack. The device has a pair of spool portions on opposite sides of the device. Each spool portion is shaped so that fiber slack can be wound back and forth between the two spool portions. The device is capable of being pivotally mounted within an enclosure, so that the pair of spool portions can be accessed by pivoting the device.
Another aspect of the invention is an assembly including an enclosure and a device for storing fiber slack. The device has a pair of spool portions on opposite sides of the device. Each spool portion is shaped so that fiber slack can be wound back and forth between the two spool portions. The device is pivotally mounted within the enclosure, so that the pair of spool portions can be accessed by pivoting the device.
Still another aspect of the invention is a method for storing slack fiber. The method includes the steps of: winding the fiber around a first spool portion on a first side of a storage device; winding the fiber around a front end of the storage device; pivoting the device; and winding the fiber around the second spool portion.
The above and other features of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiment of the invention which is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings.